HMC News – March 2022

This month, Reedley College held the official groundbreaking ceremony for the McClarty Center for Fine and Performing Arts. The new 24,000 square foot facility will attract talent and draw audiences from near and far. It will also provide students and faculty the much needed opportunity to showcase their talents and skills on campus. Harold gave a remarkable speech about his own life and impact the college and the arts had on his upbringing. Click here to see what he had to say.

McClarty family with Tiger mascot, construction sign in background

It got cold at the beginning of the month. There was a widespread freeze, but only various colder locations suffered any significant damage. As you can see in the picture below, the juvenile nectarines on the left are green and shiny, compared to the frost damaged nectarines on the right that are dark and dull looking. While we feel that the overall volume was not affected by the freeze, March-April is a worrisome time for us as we monitor for potential cold temperatures and hail events.

Left: healthy juvenile nectarines // Right: cut open juvenile nectarines damaged by freeze

As grape vines awaken from dormancy, buds begin to form and swell until they open up and reveal green leaves and new growth. The opening of these buds is called bud break, a process that is currently happening in our table grape vineyards.

Green leaves opening up from dormant grape vine in a vineyard

Sarah McClarty, our Chief Financial Officer, is featured in this month’s Western Grower & Shipper magazine as a WG Women Ambassador. Sarah is part of the first few graduates of WG Women, a women’s professional development program under the Western Growers umbrella. Before WG Women, Sarah worked to create a women’s group at HMC, which allows the women from across our organization to participate in networking, teambuilding, and volunteer opportunities. Because we are in the midst of Women’s History Month, this feature is extra special to us. Read the article here.

Magazine article from Western Grower & Shipper magazine

Our stone fruit orchards are moving right along. Juvenile fruit is growing on our trees, with nectarines pictured above. At the beginning of this week, we received just over an inch of precipitation on our farms, which included some hail. It’s a little early to determine the extent of the hail damage. We have not yet thinned our early season varietals, which sometimes gives us an opportunity to sort through the fruit on the trees and remove pieces that may have been damaged by hail.

Row of nectarine trees

Noticias del HMC - 17 de abril de 2019

El Reedley College ha revelado la ubicación del futuro Centro McClarty de Bellas Artes y Artes Escénicas. El terreno situado en la esquina noreste del campus que albergará el nuevo edificio no es sólo una pieza importante del futuro del colegio, sino también una pieza importante de la historia local: el lugar donde se fundó la ciudad de Reedley. La Fundación de la Familia McClarty hizo una importante donación para apoyar este esfuerzo, que es una causa muy cercana al corazón de Harold. Se prevé que la excavación comience dentro de un año, y que el edificio se termine en unos dos años.

Actualización de los cultivos:
El aclareo continúa en nuestros huertos de frutales, y nuestros viñedos de uva de mesa siguen en la fase de desarrollo de los brotes. Recibimos una lluvia a principios de esta semana, con días cálidos y soleados en el pronóstico.